


The Detective and the Agent

by zennie



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-08-27 01:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8383141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zennie/pseuds/zennie
Summary: This is going to be a series of shorts that do not build on each other. Chapter summaries below.Chapter 1: Alex has to get Maggie out of a dangerous situation.Chapter 2: Maggie's never seen Alex fight.Chapter 3: Maggie loves to watch Alex work.Chapter 4: Alex is playing pool with someone else and Maggie is not happy.Chapter 5: Alex isn’t used to being touched unexpectedly.Chapter 6: Kara learns a new word on the Internet.Chapter 7: It’s Maggie’s turn to run away. Post 2x09Chapter 8: Alex loses the vegan ice cream bet, but not all is as it seems.Chapter 9: Maggie doesn't like to celebrate Valentine's Day (reposted from Tumblr).





	1. Extraction

Maggie grunted as her forehead made sharp contact with the tabletop, and Alex twisted her arm behind her back, the handcuffs making a quiet snick around Maggie’s wrists. A harsh whisper in her ear warned her to be quiet, and she gritted her teeth instead of letting loose a steady stream of inventive and unflattering names for the DEO agent. Alex manhandled her upright, wrapping an iron hand around her bicep and steering her toward the door with a crisp, “We’ll take it from here.” 

The grip on her arm lightened once the door closed behind her, but Alex didn’t stop until she had hustled Maggie outside into the dark alley behind the club. “What the fuck are you doing? I was about to arrest him,” Maggie snarled as Alex finally slowed, several hundred feet beyond the club, and turned the detective around to face her. 

“Be nice or I won’t take the cuffs off until we get back to the DEO.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Alex’s lips thinned into a hard smile, and she cocked an eyebrow, her hand tightening around Maggie’s forearm to keep her from moving away.

“So help me, when you take these off…”

The smile on Alex’s face widened, but looked no less dangerous. “Now if I could just find a gag for your mouth…” She sighed in exasperation, her eyes darting around the alley. That’s when Maggie saw them, several dark figures taking up positions around the doors and on rooftops of neighboring buildings. 

Alex tapped her comms and commanded, “Go,” sending the figures scurrying just as a brightly-clad outline of Supergirl flew through the sky. She turned Maggie around and a second later, the pressure on her wrists slackened. As soon as she was free, Maggie turned on Alex, her eyes blazing. 

“As you can see,” Alex swept a hand toward the club, “we had a raid scheduled, and we were about to move when I realized you were inside. Obviously about to do something stupid.”

“I was doing my job. That bastard...”

Alex interrupted smoothly, “I had to extract you and we didn’t have a lot of time.”

“You could have texted me or something.” 

“I couldn’t know they hadn’t taken your phone, and I couldn’t risk you giving them any warning. There were at least three aliens in that room who could have killed you with a look.”

“I was about to arrest him.”

“And when you did, all of his associates would have been alerted and we wouldn’t have been able to get them in one sweep.”

“That was really your best idea?”

Alex shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?

Maggie rubbed her wrists and glared, her ego still smarting at the way Alex had so easily subdued her. In her defense, she had expected Alex to provide backup, not lie about her being a rogue cop and slam her into a table. Or bend over her, her whole body pressed against Maggie’s, her breath rough against Maggie’s neck. 

“Just so you know…” Maggie’s tone was suddenly honeyed, and Alex looked away from where agents were starting to escort the members of the alien drug ring into the waiting transports and glanced at Maggie with narrowed eyes. “I usually like to be romanced before a girl puts me in handcuffs.”

Alex’s mouth dropped open and then snapped shut, her eyes suddenly wide. Maggie didn’t miss the flush that rushed over the agent’s cheeks as she tried to formulate a response nor the other woman’s sudden breathlessness as she swallowed. With a dark, predatory smile, Maggie stepped closer and leaned in, her lips inches from Alex’s ear. “My safeword is ‘pickles’,” she teased as Alex’s face flared a deep red. 

Her laughter echoed in the alley as she strode away. 


	2. Sucker Punched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie's never seen Alex fight.

“Danvers,” Maggie hissed the name quietly, but the other woman was already gone, slipping from her side to sneak up on the two unsuspecting guards. She wasn’t even wearing full tactical gear, Maggie realized, just her gun belt, her black shirt and BDUs helping her blend into the darkness. 

Worry ate at Maggie’s gut as Alex moved into position, behind a crate by where the guards were half-heartedly peering toward the perimeter. Maggie caught a glimpse of Alex’s face as she glanced back toward where Maggie crouched, as if to reassure herself that Maggie hadn’t moved. Her hand rested on the butt of her gun for second, but she didn’t draw even though both men had assault weapons. Biting back a curse, Maggie drew her own weapon and moved to get a better line of sight in case Alex needed cover.

Alex exploded from her position and was on the guards before they even knew she was there. She kicked the knee out from under one guard just as her elbow connected with loud crack and he went down with a thud, blood slowly pooling under him where Alex had broken his nose. The second guard had frozen for a second, but now he was pulling his weapon off his shoulder and raising it, but Alex caught the barrel before he could aim and jammed the stock into his stomach, knocking him back and off-balance as she wrenched the gun out of his hands. She spun, the gun a brutal bat as she swung, taking him down as well. 

It had happened so fast, one moment, there were two men, and the next, Alex was standing there, surrounded by their unconscious bodies. It was an impressive show of fighting ability, but what was scary was how matter-of-factly Alex had gone about it, and Maggie had to admit she had never seen anything quite so deadly and beautiful.

A movement caught the corner of her eye. “Alex!” Maggie called out the warning as a third guard leaped out from behind a row of crates, a knife glinting in his hand. Her arm swept down, deflecting the blow at the last second so the knife only sliced along her ribs rather than into her heart. Alex trapped the assailant's hand, down and out of the way, pulling him closer as her knee came up, his momentum driving him even harder into the blow. She finished him off with an elbow to the back of his skull, dropping him to the ground. 

Supergirl landed beside her just as Maggie started forward. “I’m okay,” Alex told them both, her hand pressed against the shallow wound at her side. “The kingpin is in there,” she indicated the lit windows at the end of the warehouse. 

A light flashed as the door blew off its hinges, flying across the tarmac with incredible force, and the alien they had been hunting burst out, the reptilian eyes scanning the space before fixing on Supergirl. 

Maggie watched in horror as Alex stepped in front of Supergirl, pulling her weapon and coolly firing on the alien, the bullets bouncing off him harmlessly. His tail flicked, sending a hail of projectiles toward the two, and Supergirl lunged forward, her cape billowing to shield Alex. Maggie heard a grunt of pain and saw Alex fall to her knees before collapsing, and Supergirl launched at the hostile, taking him down with a single thundering punch. Maggie barely saw the hostile fall as she scurried across the floor, reaching Alex’s side and grabbing her hand, slippery with the blood Alex was trying to stem from where her leg was impaled by a spike.

The warehouse was suddenly overrun with DEO agents, bellowing orders and subduing the hostiles, and Supergirl was back at Alex’s side, her face stricken. “Damn it, Alex, I told you to be careful.” The hand in Maggie’s had gone slack and Alex’s head lolled back onto the concrete. “Alex? Alex!” Maggie couldn’t remember ever seeing Supergirl panic, but there was no other word to describe the tone of her voice or the look on her face as she gathered the fallen agent in her arms, shaking her head at the medic who was rushing toward them. “I’ve got to get her to the DEO.” With that, she was gone, leaving Maggie with shaking, blood-stained hands. 

Maggie didn’t know how long it was before Henshaw found her, standing beside the spot where Alex had fallen and staring into the now-empty sky. He directed an agent to drive Maggie back to the base, and she found herself in the hallway outside the surgical bay beside Supergirl, still trying to get her hands to stop shaking. They sat silently, and the large blood stain on the arm of Supergirl’s suit kept drawing Maggie’s gaze and roiling her stomach, the images of Alex’s unconscious body in the superhero’s arms waiting every time she closed her eyes. 

Unable to take it any longer, Maggie stood and started pacing the length of the hallway. She didn’t really understand why she was there, only she knew she couldn’t leave until she knew Alex was okay, but she also didn’t understand why Supergirl was there either. Shouldn’t she be out somewhere saving someone after failing to protect Alex?

Finally, she turned on Supergirl, making no attempt to keep the bitterness from her voice. “Why did she do that? Why did she step in front of you?” Maggie choked back the sob rising in her chest and tried to breathe past the lump in her throat. “You are the superhero, and she’s, she’s just... “ 

The pain in Supergirl’s eyes was immeasurable when she met Maggie’s gaze, the depth of sadness making the worry that Maggie felt pale in comparison. Whatever Alex was to Supergirl, she was more than just another agent, and the thought made Maggie’s guts twist. Those few seconds of watching Alex fight and seeing her fall had crystallized her feelings for the agent, and now she realized that it might not matter what she felt. 

Supergirl’s voice was quiet, soft, and Maggie had to strain to hear it. “She always protects me. Even when I don’t need it.” 

Love was laced with guilt in her words, and Maggie turned away, her breath ragged as she tried to draw past the pain that felt like her heart breaking. “I better go–”

Supergirl kept talking as if she hadn’t heard Maggie speak. “She’s been protecting me since we were kids.” 

“Since you were kids?” Maggie stilled, pausing mid-step as she puzzled over the words. 

Supergirl was watching her curiously when she turned back, her confusion mirroring Maggie’s. “Alex didn’t tell you?” 

“Tell me what?” 

“I’m Kara. Kara Danvers.”

“Danvers?” Maggie stuttered over the name, the words slow to penetrate.

“Alex’s sister.”

“Oh. OH.” Maggie’s heart thudded in her chest as she tried to process her feelings about this latest revelation in what was becoming a string of revelations. “No, Alex didn’t tell me that.”

Kara’s smile was sad. “I’m so used to everyone in the DEO knowing my little ‘secret,’ I forget that not everyone knows. I guess it is supposed to be need to know,” she mused, “but I think you need to know.”

Before Maggie could reply, the surgeon stepped out to tell them that Alex was in recovery and would be waking up in a few minutes. He quietly admonished Supergirl–Kara, Kara Danvers, Maggie’s fuzzy brain supplied–to keep her sister out of the line of fire next time, and ushered them into the recovery room to Alex’s bedside.

As soon as her eyes flickered open, Kara smacked her arm. “Dummy.” 

“I love you too,” Alex mumbled, her eyes unfocused as they swept toward her sister.

“You scared Maggie.”

“Hmmph, I doubt that.”

“You did,” Maggie piped up, her hand reaching out to cover Alex’s where it rested on the blanket. “A lot.”

Alex raised her head, her movements slow and soft, like she was moving underwater, and her eyes narrowed as she tried to focus. “What’re you doing here?”

Maggie’s fingers drifted through Alex’s hair, tucking it behind her ear, as she stepped closer. “I was worried about you.”

Kara looked between the two of them, her eyebrow raising as a sleepy smile graced Alex’s face when Maggie sat on the edge of the bed. “I, I’m just going to go… get cleaned up, if that’s okay with you?” When neither woman acknowledged her existence, her smile widened, and she scooted out the door, turning just in time to catch J’onn’s arm as he was heading into the room. “Let’s leave them alone for a while.”

“Who, what…?” J’onn looked past Kara’s shoulder at the two women as Maggie crawled onto the bed to snuggle into Alex’s side. His face took on a mischievous air as he met Supergirl’s eyes, and he let Kara pull him out of the doorway. “Looks like your sister finally met her match.”

Kara beamed at him as she led him down the hallway. “I hope so.”


	3. Smirk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie loves to watch Alex work.

Alex’s lips curved into a smirk, a dangerous light in her brown eyes, and Maggie knew just where this was going. She almost felt bad for the guy as she eased back a step, giving Alex room to work. A second later, Alex’s hand shot out and caught his shoulder, her other hand twisting his arm behind his back as she slammed his head down on the desk with a dull thump. 

“Now listen, you son of a bitch, there’s a busful of kids out there and some really bad people looking for them. I will find them, but it will be better for you if I find them now, with your help.” 

“Bitch!” he screamed, and Alex applied more pressure to his arm, eliciting a howl of protest. “Don’t break it,” he begged. 

“No promises,” Alex replied, her tone light but run through with steel, and the threat in her voice provoked a curious warmth in the pit of Maggie’s stomach. No-nonsense, badass Alex Danvers on a mission to rescue people was one of her favorite incarnations, just below flustered, awkward, dorky Alex Danvers. 

“You’re a cop, arrest this bitch,” he pleaded, but Maggie threw up her hands, shook her head, and took another step back, fighting to keep a smile from her face. 

“This is on you… I told you to cooperate.” 

“There are laws…” 

“Not where she’s concerned.” Alex’s eyes sparkled with a tiny glimmer of humor at Maggie’s assertion. “Why don’t you tell the nice lady what she wants to know? You might only end up in jail and not the emergency room.” 

“Okay, okay, there’s a ravine near the ranch, deep with a rock overcrop. They drove the bus down there and left the kids to distract Supergirl.” 

“Why?” 

“They’ll kill me.” His forehead cracked against the table as Alex thumped him on the back of the head with the palm of her hand. “The lab, something about CDC samples…” 

Alex finally released him, letting him slide down the desk into a crumbled lump as two burly agents stepped up and took his arms to lead him away. She tapped her comm. “Supergirl, J’onn, did you get that?” 

“Already at the ranch,” came J’onn’s deep voice. “I found the children, and they appear to be unharmed.” 

“And I just froze the samples, making them inert. Bad guys are locked in the airlock awaiting the cops.” Maggie could hear the bubbly tone in Supergirl’s voice, and she could imagine the Girl of Steel cheerfully waving to the mobsters through the glass windows. 

“I think we’re done here.” Alex concluded smugly as the room cleared of bad guys and agents, leaving the two women alone. Catching Maggie’s appreciative gaze, Alex’s eyes narrowed. “What?” 

“I really shouldn’t enjoy that so much.” 

“Enjoy what?” 

“Watching you work.” 

“Yeah?” That smirk had returned, as had the dangerous glint, but now Alex’s gaze was squarely on the detective as Alex stepped closer. Maggie’s breath hitched and her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she felt the heat from the other woman’s body. Alex’s eyes were drawn to the movement, and the smirk widened. Maggie took a step back, bumping into the wall, as Alex reached out, her fingers ghosting down Maggie’s arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. 

Since her relationship had ended, Maggie had been steadily amping up the flirting, and most of the time, Alex’s flustered responses had been adorable and sweet. But there was nothing shy or sweet in Alex right now, as her fingers curled around Maggie’s wrists and raised her arms, pinning them against the wall. 

All the breath in her lungs went out in a whoosh as Alex melded her body to Maggie’s, pressing her into the cold concrete. The predatory gleam in Alex’s eyes made Maggie’s knees weak. It was like teasing a housecat and ending up with a tiger. A delicious shiver that had nothing to do with the cold ran up Maggie’s back as Alex dipped her head to capture Maggie’s lips. The kiss was surprisingly soft and gentle, the sweetness that everything a first kiss should be, and that just made it hotter. Maggie barely realized Alex had released her wrists, only that she had snaked a hand around Alex’s neck, holding her there so Maggie could take her time to explore Alex’s mouth. 

Maggie’s eyes blinked open when the kiss ended to find Alex staring at her hungrily, a hunger tempered with something that looked a little like awe, and she smiled to see adorably dorky badass Alex Danvers. “You do know how to sweep a girl off her feet, Danvers.” 

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a really long time,” Alex confessed, a little breathlessly. 

“Well, don’t let me stop you from doing that again,” Maggie retorted as Alex slid her fingers through Maggie’s thick hair, dragging her head back for another kiss. 


	4. Moment of Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Alex is playing pool with someone other than Maggie.
> 
> Post 2x06; canon divergent for 2x07 and 2x08.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while since I updated this one, but I wrote two angsty Alex shorts yesterday. Here's the first.

The click of balls striking on the pool table was starting to drive Maggie mad. Usually, it wouldn’t be a problem because she would be the one playing pool with Alex, not some tall blonde who stared adoringly when Alex leaned over to line up a shot and who cooed when she sank ball after ball without a break. The sounds of pool paused, and Maggie cast a discreet glance at the corner and instantly regretted it. Alex was standing there, the cue tucked in her elbow and her beer in her hand as the blonde snuggled into her and brushed her lips across Alex’s.  
  
Looking away as her stomach churned at the sight, Maggie raised a hand to get M’gann’s attention. “Three shots. Line them up,” she said.  
  
It was late, well after midnight, before Maggie heard the click of the cue ball again, although she wasn’t sure if it was because the game had stopped or because the alcohol on an empty stomach had drowned out everything except the roaring in her ears. Risking a glance, she saw Alex playing alone and the chair where the other woman’s handbag and jacket had been sitting was empty. Before she knew what she was doing, Maggie slipped off the bar stool, swaying a little as she made her way over to the table.  
  
“Hey, Danvers, where’d your friend go?” She winced at the happy tone she managed to inject into her words. She wasn’t sure she was fooling Alex, and she sure as hell wasn’t fooling herself.  
  
Alex didn’t raise her head as she concentrated on her shot. “She left.”  
  
“Yeah? She was cute.” Maggie thought the words were going to choke her, but she got them out. This was the box she had put herself in, the role of being the supportive friend, and it was suffocating her slowly, but still, she persevered. “It looked like she was into you.”  
  
The cue ball struck the 8 ball, and it slammed into the pocket solidly. Alex straightened and eyed Maggie warily. “We’re friends, right?”  
  
Maggie didn’t even try to mask her surprise at the question, or the challenging tone with which it was asked. “Of course.”  
  
“Then I can’t talk about this with you.”  
  
“What do you mean, you can’t talk about it with me?”  
  
Alex stared her, the dark intensity in her eyes burning right through Maggie. “It’s not a good idea.”  
  
She grabbed her jacket and started toward the door, but Maggie caught her arm and turned her back around. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“Nothing.”  
  
“Come on, Alex, you can talk to me. I told you, I’m here for you as a friend....”  
  
“And that’s exactly why I’m not going to talk about any woman I date with you.” When Maggie didn’t release her arm, Alex sighed, her eyes squeezing shut for a second before opening to meet Maggie’s gaze. “You want to know? You _really_ want to know?”  
  
Something in Alex’s voice sounded alarm bells in Maggie’s head, but some reservoir of boldness overrode her instincts for self-preservation. “Yes.”  
  
Alex shook her head as if debating with herself, her eyes never leaving Maggie’s. “She wasn’t you, okay? All of the women I’ve dated, they weren’t you.”  
  
Maggie sucked in a breath as the words hit her like a punch to the gut; Alex took the opportunity and ripped her arm out of Maggie’s grasp.  
  
“Alex…” But the other woman was already walking away, and Maggie ran after her, stumbling on the stairs before bursting out the door. “Alex, wait.”  
  
Anger had propelled Alex halfway down the alley, and Maggie wasn’t sure if she heard Maggie call out, but suddenly Alex spun on her heel and stalked back toward her. “And if we’re going to be friends, you need to stop that.”  
  
“Stop what?”  
  
“Stop looking at me like that. Because when you look at me like that, I think you want what I want, and it makes me crazy. I don’t know what happened in your past or who hurt you…” All the air left Maggie’s lungs at the anger and pain in Alex’s eyes, shot through with desire, and she could feel her stomach muscles trembling. “And I know I’m ‘fresh off the boat’ and ‘those relationships never work out,’ but it’s like you decided how the relationship will end before we even started, like you wrote us off before there was even an us.”  
  
The trembling increased until Maggie’s whole body was shaking as Alex’s words laid her bare, and she fisted her hands at her sides to hide the tremor. She didn’t dare raise her head and look at Alex, afraid to show how Alex’s words were affecting her.  
  
“The difference between us is, I want to give it a chance. It might end badly. It might destroy our friendship. It might burn everything down around us. But it might not. It might be amazing.” Alex ran her hand through her hair roughly, pushing it out of her eyes. “Damn it, Maggie, I want you, and I think you want me too, and I don’t understand why it’s somehow safer to pretend to be friends when that’s not what either of us want.”  
  
Alex drew in a shuddering breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was calm and resigned. “There, now you know.” A second later, she turned and continued her path down the alley, leaving Maggie alone.


	5. Pinned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex isn’t used to being touched unexpectedly.
> 
> At the end of 2x08, Maggie didn’t come to Alex’s apartment, but Kara went off to fight aliens on another Earth. This is my take on Alex throws Maggie up against a wall like she threw Winn in 2x07.

Maggie looked up from her drink as she sat at the bar just in time to see a familiar leather jacket blur past her. It had been days since she had seen Alex, ever since Alex had stitched her up at the DEO. That night, Maggie had spent half the night sitting outside of Alex’s apartment building, letting the pizza cool and the beer warm while she tried to work up the courage to walk up to Alex’s door. She had finally given up when the lights blinked out in Alex’s apartment.   
  
Standing in a hurry, Maggie followed Alex through the bar, nearly running into a woman exiting the restroom in her haste to catch up. Slumped shoulders and hands braced on the sink, Alex’s obvious exhaustion made Maggie’s body ache in sympathy. Maggie didn’t even say anything, just reached out and placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder. A millisecond later, she realized the error of her ways as Alex grabbed her wrist and spun around, her fist tangling in Maggie’s shirt as she threw her against the wall and forcefully pressed her body against Maggie’s, trapping her against cold tile.  
  
“Alex?” Maggie breathed out quietly, trying to draw air into her lungs.  
  
“Maggie?” Maggie felt Alex’s body relax, the other woman sagging into her and keeping her pinned against the wall. “Sorry, I didn’t… I…” Dark eyes searched Maggie’s before fixing on her lips, and Maggie’s heart rate kicked up a notch as Alex’s fingers dragged through Maggie’s hair and tilted her head back. Her body responded hungrily to the jagged rawness in Alex’s eyes as  her head dipped. “So beautiful,” Alex whispered against her lips before Maggie closed the distance, their mouths meeting in a searing kiss.  
  
Sliding one hand around Alex’s waist, Maggie wrapped the other around Alex’s neck to hold her there, feeling the fire burn between them as Alex’s tongue teased her lips. There was a desperation that hadn’t been there the first time, and Maggie deepened the kiss, letting her body speak where her courage and words had failed her. Alex thought she was beautiful and amazing, and she wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass without showing Alex how she felt about this equally beautiful woman in her arms.   
  
A low moan rumbled in Maggie’s throat as Alex’s nails scraped across the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck. The sound seemed to snap Alex out of her haze, and she pulled back, staggering away from Maggie until she stood in the middle of the restroom, one hand covering her mouth beneath wide, shocked eyes. “Maggie, I’m, I’m so sorry, I….” She shook her head, the movement nearly sending her crashing into the sink on unsteady legs. Her shoulders slumped again as she leaned heavily on the counter. “I shouldn’t have done that. I...”  
  
“It’s ok.” Maggie peeled herself off the wall that had been holding her up, her own knees rubbery as she crossed to Alex and laid her hand on Alex’s shoulder, bracing a little in case Alex reacted to her touch again. “You okay?” In the few short days since she had seen Alex, the agent looked… rough, with dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks sunken. She was a far cry from the chipper woman who had seemed to have found peace with herself just a few days ago. “Have you slept?”   
  
“Not since… since…” Alex swallowed roughly, and Maggie filled in what Alex couldn’t speak of. It had been a few days since Supergirl had been spotted, and conspiracy theories had started springing up in all the papers about Supergirl being off on some mission, leaving them unprotected, and some of the darker stories had suggested Supergirl was dead. Seeing Alex’s obvious despair, Maggie guessed at least some of those stories had it right.  
  
“What are you doing here?” Maggie asked gently. Alex was obviously in no shape to be at the bar, but Maggie wasn’t sure how to help.  
  
“It’s so quiet. I couldn’t sit there alone anymore, waiting… I don’t know if she’s ever coming back.” Alex’s knuckles were white where they were gripping the counter, but tears stubbornly refused to fall, like she had cried herself out. “She said she would be back soon but that was days ago and she’s not back yet.”   
  
“Come on.” Maggie slid her hand over Alex’s, grasping it tightly and pulling Alex around to face her. “I’ll wait with you, watch while you sleep.” Alex shook her head, but Maggie persisted. “You need to rest. Supergirl wouldn’t want you to worry like this.”  
  
“What if… if…” The anguish in Alex’s eyes was ike a laser stabbing into Maggie’s heart instead of her shoulder. “I can’t lose her. She promised me…” Alex’s hand was trembling, and her eyes rested on their joined hands like the touch burned. “She promised me I wouldn’t have to go through this alone.” Alex’s hand had tightened on the word this, and Maggie knew she was talking about coming out. But Alex hadn’t come out to Supergirl, she mused, only... “She’s my heart,” Alex muttered, brokenly, and Maggie’s eyes widened as she realized Alex was talking about Kara, and the sudden knowledge left her reeling.   
  
Tucking a strand of hair behind Alex’s ear, Maggie’s fingers lingered, wishing there was more she could do, some other comfort she could offer. “She’ll be okay. Kara… Kara is strong. She’ll come back.” Her voice was heavy with understanding, and Alex barely registered that Maggie had used her sister’s name instead of Supergirl. “Come on,” she said again, drawing Alex toward the door. “Let’s go wait for her to come home.”  
  
With minimal effort, Maggie got Alex back to Kara’s apartment. Alex’s face screwed up at the sight of the empty loft, but she let Maggie lead her to the couch, settling on the cushions and wrapping her arms around a pillow without a word. Maggie shucked her jacket and slid in beside Alex, hesitating only a moment before slipping her arm around Alex’s shoulders. Sinking into the embrace, Alex abandoned the pillow to snuggle into Maggie’s body, her arm snaking around Maggie’s waist. Brushing her lips across Alex’s forehead, Maggie whispered, “You are not alone. I’ll be here as long as you need me,” like a promise against her skin.  
  
Within minutes, Alex was sleeping in her arms and Maggie knew, despite her cowardice of a few nights ago, she had somehow ended up exactly where she needed to be, for both of them, and she wouldn’t squander this opportunity again. Her own eyes closed as she drifted into sleep, and that’s where Kara found them a few hours later.


	6. New Vocabulary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have a headcanon that Kara didn't get the chance to tease Alex about her crushes and relationship drama when they were teenagers like a typical annoying younger sibling, so now she’s making up for lost time. 
> 
> Or, Kara learns a new word on the Internet.

"What did you just say?" Alex’s voice was sharp as she asked the question. 

“Sexyfuntimes.” 

Alex groaned, dropping her head into her hand and pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to keep her impending headache at bay. "That's what I thought you said."

“What, you don’t like my new word?” Kara asked, shooting Winn a wink. “I learned it on the internet, and it’s a much better euphemism than a lot I’ve seen.” Her mouth crinkled in disgust as she recalled her web search. “Some of them to describe,” and here her fingers just fluttered nervously toward her sister, “between two women are just weird. Or confusing. What does...”

"No. Stop.” Alex took a discreet look around, hoping that nobody in the command center was close enough to overhear this conversation before narrowing her eyes at her sister as if she had laser vision. Winn stifled his laughter as best he could, happy for once that Alex's death glare was directed at her sister, not at him. "Winn, take note to disable all of Kara’s Internet access except for cute baby animal videos and the Disney channel.”

“Noted."

"Hey!" Kara protested with a grin. 

“Agent Danvers."

"Detective Sawyer." Alex knew she had a big goofy grin on her face as Maggie stepped up by her, careful not to touch but still close enough that the heat of her body was discernible at Alex’s side. They were careful to act professional at their workplaces, although their new relationship was the worst-kept secret in both the DEO and the precinct. 

“What were you all talking about?” Maggie asked with a grin, noticing the blush still coloring Alex’s cheeks. 

“Hey, Maggie,” Kara greeted enthusiastically. “I was just asking Alex…”

“DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE!” Alex roared, this time attracting the attention of everyone in the room. “This is a place of work. My work. Not a place to discuss those topics.”. 

Maggie’s eyebrow quirked, and Kara mock-pouted. 

Just as Kara was about to continue teasing her sister, Winn turned to his computer and started typing. “Oh, hey, Kara, did you see the pictures of a kitten dressed as a bat for Halloween?”

“No, show me!” Kara hurried around the center console to lean over Winn’s shoulder, and Alex mouthed ‘Thank you’ to him as she lead her girlfriend away. 

“Oh, that is so cute. Alex, did you… Where’d they go?” Kara swung her arm and connected with Winn’s shoulder, not with super strength but still hard enough to register her unhappiness. “That was mean.”

“Ouch!” Winn cried, rubbing his shoulder. “I had to. You may be the Girl of Steel, but you aren't near as scary as your sister.”

\---

“Do I want to know?” Maggie asked as she followed Alex down the hall toward her office. 

Alex sighed. “Kara was being nosy. Trying to get details about our, ah, relationship.” 

“Yeah? What kind of details?” Alex gave her a sideways glance, her eyebrow raised at the feigned innocence in Maggie’s tone, and Maggie chuckled.

“Not you too,” Alex rejoined. 

The office was dark, and Maggie kept Alex from turning on the lights as they entered. “You know, if your workplace is trying to keep things strictly professional,” she muttered as she hooked her fingers around Alex’s gun belt and pulled her into a secluded corner, “they should rethink dressing their agents in these sexy uniforms all the time.”

Alex blushed an even deeper red this time and tried to pull away, but Maggie tightened her grip and yanked her closer as her back collided with the wall. “Have I told you how hot that thigh holster is on you, Agent Danvers?”

A little self-conscious laugh escaped her lips, but Alex braced her hands against the wall at Maggie’s sides and dipped her chin. “You like that, do you, Detective Sawyer?”

“Mmm hmm,” Maggie purred as she kissed Alex soundly, enjoying how Alex melted into the kiss despite the discomfort Maggie knew she was feeling at making out with her girlfriend at work. 

“Alex, are you…” Kara skidded to a stop just inside the door. 

Alex didn't move away or even look up from her girlfriend. “What do you need, Kara?”

“I thought this was a place of work?” Kara asked archly. 

“It is. We’re working on something.”

“Yeah. Sexyfuntimes.” With a burst of super speed, Kara was out the door, laughing, while Alex dropped her head onto Maggie’s shoulder and groaned.


	7. Running

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Maggie’s turn to run away.

“What… what are you doing here?”  
  
“I was worried about you.”  
  
It was deja vu. The alien bar, three shots lined up, and Alex Danvers, standing across the table, her dark eyes worried. But now everything was different. They had given it a good try, they had even been happy, the happiest Maggie had ever been in her life, until it had come crashing down.   
  
Maggie had watched as the shock registered on Alex’s face, saw her eyes widen, heard her breath catch, as she told her. She had seen the betrayal sink in, Alex’s shoulders slumping and her body folding in on itself, as she tried to protect herself from the words Maggie was saying.  
  
“No.” It was a single word, a single denial, spoken with a conviction that didn’t reach Alex’s eyes.  
  
Maggie had looked down, stared at the floor for a long moment, before raising her head and saying simply, “I’m sorry.” She had set the key to Alex’s apartment, the key she had gripped in her hand throughout the confession, the symbol of their increasingly intertwined lives, down on the counter with a heavy sigh. Maggie had walked away then, leaving Alex alone.  
  
She had turned her phone off as she left the apartment building to wander aimlessly until she ended up at the bar. The first shot burned all the way down, bringing a false warmth to her stomach. She felt hollow, with an emptiness that Maggie feared would never be filled again. Maggie squeezed her eyes closed, keeping the tears at bay for now, and fumbled for her next shot. Bile rose up in the back of her throat as she remembered her last look at Alex’s devastated face.   
  
Her head was already swimming, and she opened her eyes, only to suck in a shocked breath as she met Alex’s dark gaze, watching her with concern, compassion, and such love it was unbearable.  
  
She had left Alex on the verge of a breakdown, suspecting Alex would call her sister for a night of crying on the couch with ice cream, but here she was. Maggie had run, and Alex had followed her. “You don’t have to worry about me.” Maggie brushed off Alex’s concern and tried to bury the slight twinge of hope that sparked deep in her guts.  
  
Sitting across from her, Alex reached out and rested her hands on Maggie’s, the simple touch bringing the tears she had refused to shed to her eyes. “I… I don’t deserve…” Maggie began, shaking her head, but she didn’t move her hands out from under Alex’s and she didn’t resist when Alex curled her fingers under Maggie’s and grasped tightly.   
  
“Why don’t you let me decide what you deserve from me?”  
  
“I betrayed you. I…”  
  
“You kept a secret.” Alex shrugged.  
  
“You said you didn’t want there to be secrets.”  
  
“I also said I wouldn’t run.” Alex released one of Maggie’s hands to wipe at the tears tracking down Maggie’s cheeks. “And I’m not.”  
  
“Alex.”  
  
“This… you… are too important to me. Am I upset? Yeah. Do I want an explanation. Hell, yes. Does this mean I never want to see you again? No.” Alex’s impossibly strong grip on Maggie’s hand tightened, almost painfully. “A thousand times no.”   
  
Maggie dropped her head to stare at the dirty table, tears making the shot glasses in front of her face fuzzy and blurred. It was more than she had hoped for, more than she felt she deserved, but Alex slid her fingers through her hair, playing with the curls like she did when they were in bed, and the ache in her chest eased. “You are too stubborn for your own good, Danvers.”  
  
“Guess you’re stuck with me then, Sawyer.” Alex’s fingers curled under Maggie’s chin, bringing her head up. “Let’s go.”  
  
“I…”  
  
“We… we don’t have to talk. Not tonight,” Alex said quietly. Maggie nodded, knowing she wasn’t off the hook, but Alex understood it took her time to to figure herself out, to frame her words. “But you need to eat and… retrieve something from my apartment.”  
  
“Are you sure?” Maggie asked, her voice breaking, suddenly afraid this was some alcohol-induced hallucination, the product of nerves and panic and little sleep and even less food.   
  
Standing, Alex pulled her up and into a tight hug, turning her head to skim Maggie’s jaw with a light kiss. Maggie exhaled slowly, relaxing into Alex’s arms like coming home after a long absence. “Never more sure of anything in my life,” Alex whispered against her skin like a promise.   
  
Maggie clung to Alex as the words sank in, as relief washed through her. “Thank you,” Maggie muttered against her shoulder. The lost, empty feeling at the pit of her stomach faded, leaving her whole and peaceful and _found_ for the first time.


	8. The Ice Cream Conspiracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex loses the vegan ice cream bet, but not all is as it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for the quick beta, Boxer. You're the best.

Alex stabbed at the carton of ice cream in her hand with her spoon. “Explain to me what the point of this is? I mean, it’s like non-alcoholic beer or decaf coffee. Both of which are an affront to god and nature, by the way.”  
  
Maggie just laughed at the disgruntled look on her girlfriend’s face.   
  
“In the immortal words of Sameen Shaw, ‘Go cow or go home,’ right?” Alex’s gaze slid sideways to see if Maggie was relenting at all.  
  
“We are home. And don’t think I don’t know what you are trying to do, Danvers,” Maggie admonished. “Even if it becomes a melted mess, you still have to try it.”  
  
With a huge sigh, Alex glared down into the carton, scrunching her face up as she carefully dipped her spoon in. “Not even chocolate,” she grumped, and Maggie bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling at how adorable Alex was being.  
  
Casting one last glance at Maggie, who nodded encouragingly, Alex slowly slid the spoon into her mouth. She swirled the ice cream around in her mouth like she was trying to avoid tasting it, and then made a gagging sound, her teeth clamping together and her nose wrinkling.   
  
Unable to hold it in any longer, Maggie erupted into a peal of laughter and collapsed back against the couch cushions, slapping her leg. “You should see yourself, Danvers. You look like a three-year-old who just tried brussel sprouts for the first time.”  
  
“This is gross. I can’t believe you like this stuff.”  
  
That elicited an even louder hoot from Maggie, her knees curling up over her stomach and tears springing to her eyes as she laughed with abandon. Alex just rolled her eyes, pretending to be put out by her girlfriend’s mirth.  
  
Finally, Maggie’s laughter subsided to the occasional giggle, and she sat up, wiping at her eyes. Her grin was so wide the dimples Alex loved were on full display, and Alex had to smile in return. “I’m glad this is all so amusing to you,” Alex said drily, provoking a fresh round of chortling from Maggie. “Seriously gross.”  
  
“I know, right?” Maggie managed in between chuckles.  
  
Alex’s eyes grew wide and she slapped her girlfriend’s thigh with the spoon. “What did you just say?”  
  
The outrage on her Alex’s face sent Maggie crashing back down on the couch, and she grabbed a pillow and smothered her face with it. Alex grabbed at the pillow and they wrestled, but Maggie was too weak with laughter to put up a good fight. Alex pushed her back into the cushions and tugged it out of her hands, tossing it aside to tickle her mercilessly while Maggie squirmed beneath her, helpless and laughing.   
  
Ticking turned to Alex’s fingers caressing the lean lines of Maggie’s stomach, and Alex’s mouth covered Maggie’s to stifle her laughter. Finally, she eased up to gaze down at her girlfriend’s self-satisfied grin. “So you really don’t like vegan ice cream?”  
  
“Go cow or go home, Danvers.”  
  
“A quarter of the pint looked like it had been eaten.”  
  
“That’s what garbage disposals are for.”  
  
“So that whole bet….?”  
  
Maggie curled up and kissed Alex until they were both breathless. “So I could see your grossed-out face.”  
  
“Uh huh.”  
  
“It’s adorable, the way your nose crinkles and…” Alex’s narrowed eyes and fingers threatening additional tickling cut Maggie’s description off, but her wide, dimpled smile didn’t go away.   
  
“And…?” Alex asked, seeing the mischievous glint in Maggie’s eyes.   
  
“Welllll… I may have made a side bet with your sister that I could get you to try vegan ice cream.” When Alex gaped at her, she chuckled. “Cheer up, Danvers. Kara is getting Thai, not Chinese, for game night this week.”  
  
“You… are… incorrigible,” Alex said, punctuating each word with a kiss, first on the tip of Maggie’s nose and then on the dimple on each cheek. She brushed her fingers through Maggie’s hair, a happy smile on her face.  
  
Maggie noticed that Alex’s smile was just this side of smug, and she gazed up at girlfriend, suddenly suspicious. “What?”  
  
“What?” Alex parroted innocently.  
  
“I know the patented I-know-something-you-don’t Danvers smile, and that’s it. So give.”  
  
Alex pursed her lips into her amused half-grin before chuckling at Maggie’s narrowing eyes. “I kind of liked the ice cream,” she admitted, “but I knew you would be disappointed if I didn’t do my usual theatrics.”  
  
The surprised delight on Maggie’s face was all it took to start Alex laughing, and Maggie sat up, throwing Alex off of her and dumping her unceremoniously back onto the couch. “You knew!”   
  
“Well, _Sawyer_ , you were kind of obvious about it,” Alex teased. “After that sushi experiment, you tried with caviar—”  
  
“—very expensive caviar—”  
  
“—and pictures of that squid ink hamburger in Japan.” At the memory, Alex couldn’t repress a shudder, much to Maggie’s amusement.  
  
“So you’ve known this whole time?”  
  
Alex shrugged a shoulder. “‘Fraid so.”  
  
“Tricky, Secret Agent Danvers,” Maggie muttered, wrapping her arms around Alex’s shoulders to pull her in for another kiss. “Very tricky. Not sure what I’m going to do with you.”  
  
“No?” Alex whispered against her lips. “Cuz I have some ideas.”  
  
Maggie chuckled. “So long as none of them involve vegan ice cream, you’re on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was prompted to write a story where Maggie really doesn't like vegan ice cream, she just really thinks Alex's face is really cute when she's grossed out. :)
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr if you like at [zennie-fic](http://zennie-fic.tumblr.com/)


	9. The Ides of March

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A older one-shot from my Tumblr. Maggie doesn't like to celebrate Valentine's Day.

“Is this the dance you never got to have with Eliza Wilkie?”

Maggie closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, still swaying in Alex’s arms. Leave it to Danvers to cut through everything and ask that question. Alex’s fingers weaved through her hair, the subtle pressure bringing her head up so she could meet Alex’s loving gaze.

Shrugging, Maggie felt tears sting the corners of her eyes again. “She was taller than me,” she joked as she leaned forward to rest her forehead against Alex’s, relaxing into the embrace as Alex’s hand returned to her shoulders. Letting out a last shuddering breath, she let went back to that time, to that pain, already feeling the bitter memories start to loosen their hold. “I had saved my allowance to get her a corsage… and one of those cheap Russell Stover Valentine hearts from the five and dime. I was gonna borrow a suit…”

The brush of Alex’s lips on her cheek eased the darkness that surrounded that time in her life, just a little bit. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, Maggie, it’s not.” There it was, that protective streak, and Maggie wondered what it would have been like if she had slipped that card into Alex’s locker when she was fourteen. Alex would have stood up for her, would have walked into that ballroom holding her hand and stared down anyone who had looked at them sideways. She was sure of that. “From now on, no more Valentine’s Day for us.”

Maggie’s head jerked up at that, and she stared at Alex, who was shaking her head. “At least not the cheesy Hallmark version of Valentine’s Day. We’ll make it our own. I dunno, we’ll, we’ll spend it on the couch in our pajamas and drink Scotch and watch My Bloody Valentine. Or maybe some cheesy romcom and we’ll make fun of it like Mystery Science Theater.”

“1981 or 2009 version?” Maggie asked, her heart swelling, both at the thought of Alex planning their next Valentine’s Day together and at how well this woman just… got her.

“Either. Both. It doesn’t matter because it will just be us.” Maggie tightened her hold on Alex’s waist, hoping it communicated a small fraction of the love and happiness she was feeling at this moment. “And then we’ll pick some random day, like the Ides of March…” Maggie let out a laugh, shaking her head at her girlfriend’s silliness. “Or the first Tuesday of April, and that will be our day to celebrate.”

“So every seven years or so, our day would fall on April Fool’s Day?” Maggie asked with a wide smile, surprising herself that she was thinking years, even decades in the future, with this woman in her arms.

Alex’s nose scrunched adorably. “Yeah, I may not have thought that through very well.”

“Or….”

Picking up on the shift in Maggie’s mood, Alex said nothing, just watched her patiently as she picked her words carefully. “There’s other kids, you know, like me, who get outed when they are young. Who didn’t… who don’t have an aunt, or… anyone. They might like… to celebrate Valentine’s Day too.” Closing her eyes, Maggie imagined ballroom filled with young awkward teens, and the image was not near as scary as she thought it would be, especially if Alex was by her side.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

“We wouldn’t have to wait a year either. Prom season is coming up,” Maggie suggested, not missing the tender way Alex was staring at her. It was too early to say I love yous, and Maggie knew it, but that gaze said it anyway. She only hoped her smile was telling Alex the same.

Maggie spun Alex and caught her, tight in her arms, closer than before. “And you and me, Danvers, we’ll always have the Ides of March.” Already, she was planning an elaborate evening, and from the grin on Alex’s face, her girlfriend was too.


End file.
